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Peter Lynch Quotes

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Quote Authors

Arnold Van Den Berg, Arthur Rock, Benjamin Graham, Bernard Baruch, Bill Miller, Charles Ellis, Charlie Munger, Chris Browne, Chuck Akre, Daniel Kahneman, David Abrams, David Swensen, Dean LeBaron, Dean Williams, Edward Thorp, Edwin Lefevre, Fred Schwed Jr, George Soros, Henry Singleton, Hetty Green, Howard Marks, Joel Greenblatt, John Bogle, John Kenneth Galbraith, John Maynard Keynes, John Neff, John Stuart Mill, John Templeton, Lou Simpson, Marty Whitman, Meir Statman, Michael Price, Mohnish Pabrai, Myron Scholes, Paul Tudor Jones, Peter Bernstein, Peter Cundill, Peter Lynch, Philip Carret, Philip Fisher, Richard Thaler, Robert Kirby, Robert Shiller, Robert Wilson, Seth Klarman, Stanley Druckenmiller, T. Rowe Price, Walter Schloss, Warren Buffett,

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People go to the library and they do incredible research on a microwave oven. And then they’ll go out and spend $10,000 on a stock because they heard a tip on the bus.
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Peter Lynch
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I always look for red flags. My major red flag all the time is when long governments yield 600 basis points over the yield on the S&P 500. At that point, stocks have always been overpriced.
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I’ve studied the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and I don’t see anywhere that we have to have a recession every four years. I don’t see why you can’t have a decent environment for years and years.
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Peter Lynch
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There are people that own electronic stocks that don't know the difference between an EEPROM and the senior prom and they're trying to buy stocks.
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Almost everybody on this planet has the brain power to make money in the stock market. The question is whether you have the stomach for it and whether you're willing to do a little bit of work? Those are the key elements.
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Peter Lynch
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You never can predict the economy. You can't predict the stock market.
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Peter Lynch
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People are very careful with their money. When they buy a refrigerator, they do some work. When they buy an apartment or rent an apartment, they’re careful. For some reason, when it comes to stocks, they just go coo-coo. They don't do any work at all.
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You only need one or two good stocks a decade. You don't need a lot of action.
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Peter Lynch
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You lose money fast in the stock market. You can't make it fast.
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Peter Lynch
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The strength of our economy is that it is dynamic and always adapting to changing conditions. That's our advantage in the world.
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Peter Lynch
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Job insecurity has been a problem for as long as people have depended on a paycheck.
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Peter Lynch
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If it's a choice between investing in a good company in a great industry, or a great company in a lousy industry, I'll take the great company in the lousy industry any day. Good management, a strong balance sheet, and a sensible plan of action will overcome many obstacles, but when you've got weak management, a weak balance sheet, and a misguided plan of action, the greatest industry in the world won't bail you out.
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Peter Lynch
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Buy only what you understand, believe in, and intend to stick with -- even when others are chasing the next miracle.
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Peter Lynch
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If discounting terrific things are already in the stock, I don't want to own it.
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Peter Lynch
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I always thought if you looked at ten companies, you'd find one that's interesting, if you'd look at 20, you'd find two, or if you look at hundred you'll find ten. The person that turns over the most rocks wins the game.
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You have to say to yourself, "If I'm right, how much am I going to make? If I'm wrong, how much am I going to lose?" That's the risk/reward ratio.
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Peter Lynch
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If you don't understand a company, if you can't explain it to a 10-year-old in 2 minutes or less, don't own it.
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Peter Lynch
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I don't think people understand there's 100% correlation with what happens to a company's earnings over several years and what happens to the stock.
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Peter Lynch
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Spinoffs have a terrific, terrific record in my lifetime. When companies get spun off, something seems to happen to them. They get better run, even though they were well run before.
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Peter Lynch
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There is no Ground Hog Day, when all the economists come out from the tunnel and declare the recession is over. They have a retroactive, seasonally-adjusted Ground Hog Day.
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Peter Lynch
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Every time you have one of these recessions, there are always groups who say it is different this time. We won't get out of this one.
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Peter Lynch
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A lot of my stocks don't work. The beauty of the stock market is that if you are wrong, if you put $1,000 up, all you lose is $1,000. I have proven that many times.
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Peter Lynch
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A lot of mutual fund managers don't know what they own. The odds are the best they have ever been for the individual.
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Peter Lynch
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The market at this point is institutional and we all act like a herd.
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Peter Lynch
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All you have to do, really, is find the best hundred stocks in the S&P 500 and find another few hundred outside the S&P 500, to beat the market.
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Peter Lynch
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People spend all this time trying to figure out "What time of the year should I make an investment? When should I invest?" And it's such a waste of time. It's so futile.
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Peter Lynch
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If you're in the market, you have to know there's going to be declines.
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Peter Lynch
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In this business, if you're good, you're right six times out of ten. You're never going to be right nine times out of ten.
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Peter Lynch
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If you looked at September 1986 to October '87, the market was unchanged. It had a thousand points up and a thousand points down and they only remember the down.
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Peter Lynch
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I've always said if you spend 13 minutes a year on economics, you've wasted 10 minutes.
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Peter Lynch
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I deal in facts, not forecasting the future.
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Peter Lynch
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Some stocks go up 20-30 percent and they get rid of it and hold onto the dogs. And it's sort of like watering the weeds and cutting out the flowers. You want to let the winners run.
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Peter Lynch
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I think the secret is if you have a lot of stocks, some will do mediocre, some will do okay, and if one or two of 'em go up big time, you produce a fabulous result.
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Peter Lynch
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For some reason, you lose money rapidly in the stock market but don't make it rapidly.
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Peter Lynch
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You can lose money very fast, in two months, but you very rarely make money very fast in the stock market. When I look back, my great stocks took a long time to work out.
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Peter Lynch
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The best companies often thrive even as their competitors struggle to survive.
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Peter Lynch
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When there's a war going on, don't buy the companies that are doing the fighting; buy the companies that sell the bullets.
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Peter Lynch
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If you're lucky enough to have one golden egg in your portfolio, it may not matter if you have a couple of rotten ones in there with it.
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Peter Lynch
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I can't say enough about the fact that earnings are the key to success in investing in stocks. No matter what happens to the market, the earnings will determine the results.
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Peter Lynch
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If a stock has gone sideways for a couple of years, and the fundamentals are decent, and you can find something new that's positive in the company, then if you're wrong, the stock will probably continue to go sideways, and you won't lose a lot of money. But if you're right, that stock is going north.
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Peter Lynch
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Gold, much more so than any other commodity, is about sentiment and psychology.
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Peter Lynch
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No stock picker knows so much that he can't learn a trick or a tip from a peer.
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Peter Lynch
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Sometimes it's necessary to look at familiar companies in new ways.
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Peter Lynch
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The harsh truth is that yesterday's reinvention doesn't mean as much as today's execution and tomorrow's competition. Just as old companies sometimes have to learn new tricks, new companies have to keep changing.
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Peter Lynch
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Don't buy "cheap" stocks just because they're cheap. Buy them because the fundamentals are improving.
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Peter Lynch
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Stocks do well for a reason and do poorly for a reason. Make sure you know the reasons.
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Peter Lynch
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One of the oldest sayings on Wall Street is "Let your winners run, and cut your losers." It's easy to make a mistake and do the opposite, pulling out the flowers and watering the weeds.
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Peter Lynch
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If your only reason for picking a stock is that an expert likes it, then what you really need is paid professional help.
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Peter Lynch
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Tip one: Don't buy stocks on tips alone.
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Peter Lynch
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People worry about the riskiness of stocks, but bonds can be just as risky.
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Peter Lynch
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The only problem with market timing is getting the timing right.
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Peter Lynch
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If you don't believe corporate profits will continue to rise, and you can't stomach a decline in the market, don't buy stocks or equity mutual funds.
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Peter Lynch
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This is the way the capitalist ecology works. Industries decline, old companies wither away, and young companies rise up to replace them. This process is hard on many, but ultimately, it is healthy.
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Peter Lynch
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A correction is a wonderful opportunity to buy your favorite companies at a bargain price.
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Peter Lynch
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People who exit the stock market to avoid a decline are odds-on favorites to miss the next rally.
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Peter Lynch
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If timing the market is such a great strategy, why haven't we seen the names of any market timers at the top of the Forbes list of richest Americans?
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Peter Lynch
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As long as people are willing to pay foolish prices for things, no plan is foolproof.
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Peter Lynch
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Corrections are unpredictable. By selling stocks to avoid pain, you can miss the next gain.
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Peter Lynch
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Ultimately, to be an investor in stocks, you have to believe that American business has a decent future, as well as business worldwide, and that corporations will continue to increase their profits.
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Peter Lynch
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As corporate profits increase, corporations become more valuable, and sooner or later, their shares will sell for a higher price.
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Peter Lynch
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What makes stocks valuable in the long run isn't "the market." It's the profitability of the shares in the companies you own.
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Peter Lynch
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Long-term bonds can be almost as volatile as stocks. They have their own corrections.
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Peter Lynch
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As soon as you realize you can afford to wait out any correction, the calamity also becomes an opportunity to pick up bargains.
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Peter Lynch
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Far more money has been lost by investors preparing for corrections or trying to anticipate corrections than has been lost in corrections themselves.
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Peter Lynch
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I've never understood the apocalyptic theory of investing. If the world really does collapse, is it really going to do you any good to have a few Krugerrands in your pocket?
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Peter Lynch
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There's no such thing as a worry-free investment. The trick is to separate the valid worries from the idle worries, and then check the worries against the facts.
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Peter Lynch
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It's worth reminding ourselves from time to time that gyrations in a stock price may tell us absolutely nothing about the prospects of the company involved.
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Peter Lynch
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The first task of the bargain hunter is to narrow the field and separate the solid prospects from the ones that are counting on hopes, prayers, and miracles.
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Peter Lynch
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There's a psychological benefit to tossing the bums out: The names disappear from the monthly brokerage statements; we're no longer reminded of our mistakes.
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Peter Lynch
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Missing the bottom on the way up won't cost you anything. It's missing the top on the way down that's always expensive.
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Peter Lynch
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Fast-growing companies can't be expected to keep up the pace forever. Eventually, they reach middle age and lose some of their oomph, just like the rest of us.
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Peter Lynch
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You can't go to sleep holding cyclical stocks for a decade and expect to be richly rewarded. The rich rewards are in growth stocks and special situations.
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Peter Lynch
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Here's my investment motto of the month: It's the company, stupid.
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Peter Lynch
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My idea of a great business is one that has a shortage of competitors.
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Peter Lynch
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It's in the nature of Wall Street to imagine that whenever a company sets a record for earnings, it will go on setting new ones.
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Peter Lynch
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In cyclicals, a period of silly prices is followed by a period of sobriety.
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Peter Lynch
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In my investing career, the best gains usually have come in the third or fourth year, not in the third or fourth week or the third or fourth month.
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Peter Lynch
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With every company, there is something to worry about, but the question is, which worries are valid and which are not?
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Peter Lynch
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Cyclicals are very forgiving. They always give you a second chance.
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Peter Lynch
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"This one is different," is the doomsayer's litany, and, in fact, every recession is different, but that doesn't mean it's going to ruin us.
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Peter Lynch
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Every recession brings out the skeptics who doubt that we will ever come out of it, and who predict that we will soon fall into a depression, when new cars will sit unsold in the showrooms forever and houses will stand empty, and the country will go bankrupt.
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The best time to get involved with cyclicals is when the economy is at its weakest, earnings are at their lowest, and public sentiment is at its bleakest.
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Just because the good news is already out doesn't mean it's too late to invest.
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The very existence of doubt creates the conditions for a big gain in the stock once the fears are put to rest. The trick is to put your fears to rest by doing the research and checking the facts -- before the competition does.
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If you cut enough losses, sooner or later there's nothing left to cut.
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Everybody in the world is a long-term investor until the market goes down.
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A lot of great companies have made a lot of decisions you haven't heard about because they decided not to do something. Some of the best decisions they did do was to not do something.
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The companies that do well, look out five, six, seven years, and some decisions they make may not be the right thing for the next year.
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If you own stocks, there's always something to worry about. You can't get away from it.
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Avoid long shots. I've bought about 30 long shots in my life. I've never broken even on one.
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Peter Lynch
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You need to know the market's going to go down sometimes. If you're not ready for that, you shouldn't own stocks. And it's good when it happens.
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What you learn from history is the market goes down. It goes down a lot.
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There are economic facts and there's economic predictions and economic predictions are a total waste.
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Peter Lynch
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I've found that when the market's going down and you buy funds wisely, at some point in the future you will be happy.
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A correction is nothing more than a Wall Street euphemism for losing a lot of money very rapidly.
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Behind all the smoke and noise on the market's surface, it's important to remember that companies -- small, medium, and large -- make up the market's backbone. And corporate earnings drive stock prices.
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What I do know about the stock market is that it looks forward.
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Peter Lynch
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No one can predict with any certainty which way the next 1,000 points will be. Market fluctuations, while no means comfortable, are normal.
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You only need a few really big stocks in a lifetime to make a lot of money.
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One or two good stocks can make up for lots of losers, and produce superior results.
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Everyone says they're a long-term investor until the market has one of its major corrections.
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When I ran Magellan Fund, the market had 9 declines of 10 percent or more in those 13 years. I had a perfect record. All 9 times, my fund went down.
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Peter Lynch
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The real problem is not finding a good fund manager, it's finding the right time horizon for your investing and what your temperament is for volatility.
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Peter Lynch
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No method guarantees you're not going to lose your shirt. I've done that many times. I've had stocks go from $11 to seven cents.
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You get recessions, you have stock market declines. If you don't understand that's going to happen, then you're not ready. You won't do well in the markets. If you go to Minnesota in January, you should know it's gonna be cold. You don't panic when the thermometer falls below zero.
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I didn't spend any time predicting the economy, or the stock market. I spent all my time looking at companies.
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Peter Lynch
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Savings is the key to creating wealth.
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Peter Lynch
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People spend an unbelievable amount of mental energy trying to pick what the market's going to do, what time of the year to buy it. It's just not worth it.
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It's very understandable to have a quick, sizable correction, even if the fundamentals are fine.
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I have lost a lot of money in some bad savings and loans. I have lost money in bad banks. And I have lost money in electronics companies. It is very easy to lose money in the stock market.
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So the stock market will definitely have a correction. Everybody will say that it is the end of the world. I predict it. They will say the big one's coming.
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Peter Lynch
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At some point, we will have a major correction and everybody will get scared again, and we will have another buying opportunity.
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Peter Lynch
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I've been fully invested at the start of all the major declines and I will be fully invested in the next one. I am not a market predictor, that's for darn sure.
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Peter Lynch
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Stocks are not lottery tickets. There's a company behind every stock. If the company does well, the stock does well. It's not that complicated.
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Peter Lynch
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If you can't explain to a 10-year-old in two minutes or less why you own a stock, you shouldn't own it.
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When you have a family, and a house, and the market is going down, and you're on margin, it's probably too much pressure for you to do the right research and the right kind of thinking to make good decisions.
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My system for over 30 years has been this: When stocks are attractive, you buy them.
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Peter Lynch
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People who have made money in the stock market usually bought companies that have done well over time.
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Peter Lynch
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Every economic recovery since World War II has been preceded by a stock market rally. And these rallies often start when conditions are grim.
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Peter Lynch
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Market timing is speculating and it rarely, if ever, pays off.
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Peter Lynch
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Even in good markets we have declines and trying to predict its direction over the near term is an exercise in futility.
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Peter Lynch
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The key is to save as much as you can, as early as you can.
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Peter Lynch
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It would be very useful to know what the market is going to do. But unfortunately, of all the market corrections that have ever come, no one has been able to predict them.
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I'm bearish when companies' profits go to hell.
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Peter Lynch
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The stock market has a 100% record, in the last 50 years, of predicting upturns in the economy. It's never been wrong. It's less than 50-50 on a downturn.
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Peter Lynch
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You're going to make mistakes. If you're terrific in this business you're right six times out of 10.
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I want a company that's simple. They don't have to make seven brilliant decisions every six months to keep going.
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Peter Lynch
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I've always found that if you find 10 stocks you really like and buy three, you always pick the wrong three. So I just buy all 10.
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The single most important thing to me in the stock market for anyone is to know what you own.
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